Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: butch on September 20, 2007, 10:34:24 pm
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howdo i prepare bamboo for backing. young plants or mature. dtrying technique. split it. ????? butch
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Butch, You want mature bamboo for backings. If you have a pole(round) I would split it in half to dry. Place it in full sunlight to get the nice tan color. Pat
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thanks pat, but then what? i presume to crush the 1/2 round to flat. do i sand my bow rough or smooth for tb2. should the backing be 1 piece covering the back full length for a handle bow or do i leave the handle clean and can i mix the fibers like makeing a string.?? never been on this mountain before. not shure i know up from down. call 911. butch is confused!!
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Split the halfs in half and then reduce, from the belly side, until it is 1/8" at the crown at the handle. From there you can taper to the limb tips. If you are using TB glue, you want flat gluing surfaces. Pat
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I'll throw in a little more, since I remember being confused about this too. Pole diameter for good backing is 3" and up. I cut out pieces with a saber saw. Make it a little wider than your bow width. I start out by clamping the strip to a work bench and thinning it down some with a big, very soarse rasp. Using long, sweeiping, diagonal strokes to minimize snagging and splitting the boo. Now, your sharp guys have a table belt sander to take it down, but I use a hand 3" belt sander. I have taken to using 24 grit belts to save time, but you might want to stick with 40 grit. Finish with finer. I sand the whole thing down pretty thin, toward 1/8", then I mark a prelim taper to narrow the ends - maybe leave 3/4" wide for glue up. Then thin downs the ends of the strip to a bit thinner than the center.
You'll want to use a form for glue up- can be pretty simple. A 2x4 will do, with cleats put on the rest the handle on, adn props to lift the tips into reflex. Helps to wrap tape around during clamp up - foot intervals. Put a clamp every 3" or so, use bits of wood or something to pad top of boo. After glue un and general bow shape-up, I hit the nodes with some 60 grit hand sand paper, just a bit. Don't want to disturb those fibers too much cause they are the weak point of boo.
Dave
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Butch, one important thing to consider is that some green, or freshly cut bamboos will warp in crazy ways if split or quartered.. If I was in a hurry to use a certain pole, I'd bust out the node walls with a broom pole and put the bamboo in a place with good circulation..LIke outside on a sunny windy day..
Also planks of bamboo can be ordered from various vendors, and are cheap considering the time and effort involved in the process.
Rich-bamboo slayer ;)
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Make sure your bamboo is completely dry before spliting. If split green it will curl on you. I would cut green bamboo to a bit over desired length then knock out the node partitions then let dry. This will help to ward off cracks that generally occur.